Instead of an obiturary for Tina Turner, who died at the relatively young age of 83 in her home in Küsnacht (Switzerland), after a long illness, an article from our archives written in February 2000 in connection of the release of the album Twenty Four Seven (at the end of 1999), containing a short biography:
Anna Mae Bullock (November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, the youngest daughter of Floyd Richard Bullock and his wife Zelma Priscilla (née Currie).
In 1957, she started to perform together with her mentor Ike Turner in the duo Ike & Little Ann. They married in 1958. Three years later, Ike & Tina Turner had their first success with “A Fool in Love” (USA 27). Other hits like such as “I Idolize You”, “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” and “Tra La La La La” followed. Several label changes and gigs in Las Vegas characterized their 1960s. At the end of the decade came new hits for the duo with black-music versions of “Come Together”, “Proud Mary” and “Honky Tonk Woman”.
Ike & Tina Turner were called the hardest working duo in showbiz. Their career-peak came in 1973 with “Nutbush City Limits” (USA 26, GB 3, Germany 2). With that song, writer Tina Turner paid tribute to the small place near Memphis were her love affair with her husband had started. But already in 1972, the two had begun to pursue their own projects. That intensified in 1974 with Tina’s first solo album Acid Queen – no success.
Ike Turner, addicted to cocaine, became violent, and the two separated in 1976. After years of struggle, Tina Turner managed to regain succes in 1983 with her album Private Dancer and its singles “Private Dancer”, “What’s Love Got To Do With It” and “Better Be Good To Me” (USA 7, 1 and 5). Her mix of soul, funk and rock caught the mainstream-taste. Her movie role in Mad Max III – Beyond the Tunderdome and her related songs “We Don’t Need Another Hero” (USA 2) and “One Of The Living” (USA 15) increased her fame.
Her autobiography I, Tina, written with the help of Rolling Stone-magazine editor Kurt Loder followed. Tina Turner’s next album Break Every Rule climbed to number one in the USA in 1986. Other success albums were Foreign Affair (1989) and Simply The Best (1991). In 1993 followed the film What’s Love Got To Do With It, based on her autobiography and starring Angela Bassett. Tina’s James Bond title song “Goldeneye” (1995) was another hit. Her album Wildest Dreams, released the same year, was less successful.
Tina Turner’s brand new album Twenty Four Seven (end of 1999) contains some solid songs like “Whatever You Need”, “When The Heartache Is Over”, “Don’t You Leave Me This Way” and “Go ahead”. As always, her singing is intense, but the instrumental accompaniment is at times too simple, too cheap (also true for Tom Jones, one of the greatest male singers ever). Still, some tracks, especially the title song “Twenty Four Seven”, have the potential to rise high in the charts.
Tina Turner is dead, but her music will remain.
P.S. Sometimes, an artist picks someone in the crowd and sings for that person. Once, a long time ago, in a stadium, that person was me.
The cause of death was not specified. But, in 2017, Tina Turner had kidney transplant surgery; the kidney was donated by her second husband, Erwin Bach. Furthermore, in 2016, she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Article written in February 2000. Re-published on our new WordPress-pages on May 24, 2023 at 22:10 (last update at 23:49) Swiss time in memory of my fellow Swiss, Tina Turner; she became a Swiss citizen in 2013. I don’t know about recent years but, in the past, one could spot her sometimes on the hotel terrasse of Zurich’s Hotel Storchen.
Tina Turner: All The Best. EMI, November 2004. This double-CD contains 33 of her best songs, three new ones included. Order the double-CD from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de.
Tina Turner : Twenty Four Seven. Original release 1999. Order the CD from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de.
Tina Turner: All The Best. EMI, November 2004. This double-CD contains 33 of her best songs, three new ones included. Order the double-CD from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de.
